Surface treatment power supplies represent a vital category of industrial power equipment, including electroplating power supplies, anodizing power supplies, electropolishing power supplies, vacuum coating power supplies, and more. As core production equipment for relevant user enterprises, they often operate under demanding or harsh conditions, with frequent or continuous operation. The resulting electricity costs constitute a significant portion of the production expenses for these manufacturers. Consequently, the pursuit of more efficient and reliable power supplies has long been a key objective for both end-users and power equipment manufacturers.
A typical surface treatment power supply topology is shown below. The AC/DC stage typically employs passive or active rectification, often using Si devices. The DC/DC circuit generally utilizes high-frequency IGBT modules, such as the Infineon 34mm and 62mm series high-frequency IGBT modules.
While benefiting from the excellent performance of Infineon's high-frequency IGBT chips, which can meet the application requirement for switching frequencies ≥20kHz in the DC/DC stage, the high losses associated with high frequencies still constrain the overall power supply efficiency.
Third-generation SiC semiconductors offer characteristics like high-temperature resistance, low losses, and high switching frequency, making them highly suitable for the DC/DC section of surface treatment power supplies. To address this, Leapers has launched 34mm-SiC and 62mm-SiC modules, enabling a rapid replacement of IGBT solutions. Due to package compatibility, users can quickly implement the SiC-for-IGBT swap after modifying the driver circuitry, achieving immediate gains in efficiency and performance.
Taking an electroplating power supply user as an example, simulation results show that at a 20kHz switching frequency, total device losses were reduced by nearly 60%, with switching losses reduced by 85%. Concurrently, the chip junction temperature decreased by over 10°C, further alleviating thermal stress on the power stage. User measurements confirmed that power supply efficiency improved from 94% to over 96%. This demonstrates the significant benefits achieved after replacing the IGBT module with the 62mm-SiC module.
It is important to note that alongside a significant reduction in the cost of SiC devices, replacing IGBTs with SiC devices in the industrial power supply sector now offers not only performance advantages but also cost feasibility. An increasing number of power equipment manufacturers are adjusting their technical solutions and actively adopting SiC devices. Currently, Leapers SiC devices are already being utilized across multiple industrial power supply fields, including surface treatment power supplies, induction heating power supplies, welding machine power supplies, test power supplies, and pulsed power supplies. We will continue to share further application cases in the future.
Leapers Semiconductor – Next-Generation Durable Power Module Expert
Website: http://www.leapers-power.com | Email: Sales@leapers-power.com
